WEBVTT - Brooks' Weber: Olympic Sponsorship Ban Hurting Athletes (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Charlie Pellot, and that's a Bloomberg Business flash. This

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<v Speaker 1>is taking Stock with Kathleen Hayes and Pim Fox on

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Radio Rule forty. Uh. Just another way if you

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<v Speaker 1>read a lot of the information we read a day

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<v Speaker 1>ahead of this interview, just one more way in which

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<v Speaker 1>the International Olympic Committee gains and many of the athletes

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<v Speaker 1>who go to the Olympics, having spent most of their

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<v Speaker 1>lives getting ready for them, don't joining us now. As

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<v Speaker 1>a man who is very close to this in in

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<v Speaker 1>key ways, Jim Webber is the CEO of Brooks Running.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a Berkshire Hathaway company founded in nineteen fourteen in Philadelphia,

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<v Speaker 1>headquartered in Seattle, now for more than twenty years, running

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<v Speaker 1>shoes of all kinds, unique designs. You can buy them

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<v Speaker 1>online in stores. But Jim's here to talk about the Olympics,

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<v Speaker 1>where his company is sponsoring twelve athletes. Twelve Olympic athletes, Jim,

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<v Speaker 1>welcome back to the show. Thanks, it's great to be here.

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<v Speaker 1>So how did you get in? I mean obvious, I

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<v Speaker 1>guess it's an obvious thing to do to sponsor athletes

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<v Speaker 1>if you make running shoes. Well, it's interesting because running

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<v Speaker 1>is actually really unique among all sports because the soul

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<v Speaker 1>of running is the sport. But but what's interesting is

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<v Speaker 1>it becomes more than that. For us. It's a fitness, healthy,

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<v Speaker 1>well lifestyle activity. So running transcends the sport. So we

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<v Speaker 1>invest in the sport um really to inspire literally high

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<v Speaker 1>school kids and younger runners to compete and begin moving

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<v Speaker 1>because frankly, we know they'll they'll keep running on into

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<v Speaker 1>old age. So the sport, I would say, is the

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<v Speaker 1>soul of what we do. It's not the core of

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<v Speaker 1>our business, but it's an investment um really in the

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<v Speaker 1>sport and future runners. Now, I just want to mention

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<v Speaker 1>that it doesn't involve you directly, but it does involve

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<v Speaker 1>this issue of rule forty in the Olympics. Right Michael Phelps,

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<v Speaker 1>who is I guess he's like the crown jewel of

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<v Speaker 1>under armos Olympic athletes. Do you know that in the

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<v Speaker 1>cover on the cover of the latest Sports Illustory magazine,

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<v Speaker 1>do you know that he's wearing Nike sweatpants. And the

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<v Speaker 1>reason that he's wearing Nike sweatpants is because Nike is

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<v Speaker 1>the sponsor of the US team Team USA, and as

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<v Speaker 1>part of the legal agreement, they are required as an

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<v Speaker 1>Olympian to wear Nike for the sponsors. Now, the US

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<v Speaker 1>Olympic Committee didn't really have a comment about this, but

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<v Speaker 1>can you just explain what is going on here that

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<v Speaker 1>athletes are sponsored by one company? The Olympic Committee might say, no,

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<v Speaker 1>you've got to wear this because the team is sponsored

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<v Speaker 1>by someone else. Explained the details. So there's there's a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of history here too, right, because the Olympics started

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<v Speaker 1>with amateur athletes and only in the last few decades

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<v Speaker 1>has professionalism come into it. And that's a whole another topic.

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<v Speaker 1>But in essence, there's no question or ambiguity at all

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<v Speaker 1>that the Olympic Movement, the IOC and the U s

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<v Speaker 1>o C owns the image and name of the athlete

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<v Speaker 1>while they're on the team, the national team and competing,

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<v Speaker 1>and so, uh, Michael Phelps does not have any rights

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<v Speaker 1>to his image or his name during this period of

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<v Speaker 1>the Olympics. It's it's managed through the U s o

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<v Speaker 1>C and the IOC and UM. That's what Rule forty

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<v Speaker 1>is all about. It restricts other commercial usage of the

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<v Speaker 1>athletes name and image during this period of time by

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<v Speaker 1>any of their sponsors or partners, but most importantly by

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<v Speaker 1>the athlete themselves. Why why was this rural mate? Because

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<v Speaker 1>I think the major sponsors at the international level and

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<v Speaker 1>even at the governing body level for each sport, for

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<v Speaker 1>USA track and field, for swim, for cycling, um, they

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<v Speaker 1>have sponsors and those sponsors want exclusivity on these athletes

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<v Speaker 1>image and name during this period of time, and that

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<v Speaker 1>has impacts. And that's why you know, we're creating a

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<v Speaker 1>social media campaign around this topic, really on behalf of athletes, because, um,

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<v Speaker 1>this isn't basketball. I'm talking about running USA track and field,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's not even an n C double a sport

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<v Speaker 1>where each athlete is getting a two to three hundred

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<v Speaker 1>thousand dollar education. These people aren't getting paid at all.

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<v Speaker 1>They have to they have to garner their own support,

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<v Speaker 1>and most of them don't have a professional outlet as

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<v Speaker 1>they do in the NBA or tennis or golf to

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<v Speaker 1>make a living off of this. So for every Hussain

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<v Speaker 1>Bolt or Michael Phelps, I think five hundred athletes UM

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<v Speaker 1>that no one knows their name. They're not going to

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<v Speaker 1>get on the podium. But this is the biggest moment

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<v Speaker 1>of their life and UM they're being restricted on UM

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<v Speaker 1>the use of their name and and and really you know,

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<v Speaker 1>supporting the people that supported them. What you'll see now

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<v Speaker 1>in the Olympics is some of the non sponsored athletes

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<v Speaker 1>by the by the big brand that's sponsoring all of

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<v Speaker 1>these teams and others. UM is you're going to see

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<v Speaker 1>them put the shoes around their neck. Because the only

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<v Speaker 1>piece of equipment that a track and field athlete has

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<v Speaker 1>is their shoes. That's not too in swimming, the cap

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<v Speaker 1>is a piece of equipment. It's not too in cycling,

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<v Speaker 1>but in running, Uh, they can't say the name of

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<v Speaker 1>their shoe sponsor, they can't show the brand in a

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<v Speaker 1>commercial sense, but they can put the equipment around their neck.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's the only thing they can do. Tell us

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<v Speaker 1>about this partnership that you've got with Zappos and UM.

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<v Speaker 1>Nick Simmons yep so, Nick is probably one of the

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<v Speaker 1>most prolific voices for athletes right certainly in in track

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<v Speaker 1>and field, and has been two time Olympian, two time

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<v Speaker 1>Olympian eight runner and he was he was in fantastic

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<v Speaker 1>shape and got injured, so unfortunately he couldn't compete at

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<v Speaker 1>the trials this year and didn't make the team. But

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<v Speaker 1>nonetheless he is on a mission to create more balance UM,

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<v Speaker 1>both in terms of sharing UH the significant revenues at

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<v Speaker 1>the international UH and and USOC committee levels to the

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<v Speaker 1>athlete as well giving athletes control over their image UM

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<v Speaker 1>and being able to put together sponsorship and support UM

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<v Speaker 1>in their dream and in pursuit of this, of this,

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<v Speaker 1>of the metal and so he's the biggest voice on that.

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<v Speaker 1>So we're supporting him. Essentially, we're supporting him and this

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<v Speaker 1>rule forty dot com effort was really about supporting his voice.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks very much for shutting light on all of this.

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<v Speaker 1>Jim Webber is the chief executive of Brooks Running Theory

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<v Speaker 1>Berkshire Hathaway, a company. They're based in Seattle. Thank you

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<v Speaker 1>for listening to taking stockhm him Fox My co host

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<v Speaker 1>Kathleen Hayes. This is Bloomberg coming up. Bloomberg Law. Brought

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<v Speaker 1>you by Landover Manhattan, where New York goes for luxury,

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